Wednesday, July 1, 2015

WING-X Part 2

If you read my last couple posts, you know that I've been working on wing extensions for a Cessna 182 owned by Life Builders International. The project is nearing completion! The wing extensions are installed, and the upper spar reinforcement is done. All that's left to do is one more reinforcement to the wing spar.

Here is a brief update through photos. For those of you who don't enjoy the technical details, I'll try to post something less technical soon!

The left wing extension is drilled and temporarily mounted to the wing to check the fit.

Another view of the 182 with the left wing extension in place. In the background you can see Gospel Carrier International's King Air 200. The propellers for the King Air are also visible in the picture, on the hangar floor, ready for installation.

Now that we're finished working through the new inspection holes, we can install stiffening rings and covers.

Jim Newman trims the wing extension to clear the aileron [for those who don't know what an aileron is: it is a moving surface near the trailing edge of the wing, and controls the rolling motion of the airplane, allowing the pilot to turn the aircraft]. The wing extension comes to us oversize and in need of trimming. This allows flexibility for different installations.

Now that the wing extensions are drilled, trimmed, and riveted into their final shape, we're able to finish off the wiring. The box mounted to the wing extension is the strobe unit, and the other wires are for the navigation lights.

With the wiring complete, the original wing tip is placed on the end of the wing extension. In this photo, you can barely see the four new vortex generators (VGs) we installed on the wing extension. The VGs are the little tabs on top of the wing, near the leading edge. The VGs change the airflow over the wing, primarily to improve performance near the stall speed of the airplane.

After getting the right wing extension installed, we did the same thing on the left side. Jim is just touching up a few areas with gray primer. This view also shows the new VGs we installed on the wing extension.